Some Sicknesses Are Hard To Prevent
by The.Hoppy
Summary: When Shizuru comes down with a cold, she ropes Natsuki into caring for her. Add horrible luck and Tomoe to the mix, and you have...what, exactly?
1. Chapter 1

A/N-- Heyla. I got bored, then Kugia suggested we write something. And I quote- 'I only offered the plot bunny to Naolin for dinner, she cooked it'. As appalled as I am at the idea of cooking plot-bunnies (I prefer to bribe them with cupcakes), I took the idea. It sounded fun. The plot is hers (for the most part), and the title. The writing's mine. It should be a few chapters long, depending. And yes, Tomoe gets a mini-mention. No, she will not be a part of this story. I'd be far too tempted to kill her off. Hope you enjoy. If you find any errors, please tell me. I don't have a beta, but I checked it over several times. Of course, when one's half-asleep...

* * *

Natsuki had been having a bad week. It was, in fact, one of the worst weeks this year. Not that there had been that many so far, but still. She'd had no vacation to speak of, having to spend the entire summer hitting the books with Mai. The highlight was probably when Mikoto took the expression literally. Aside from that short-lived moment of hilarity though, it seemed nothing had gone right. She was sure her teachers had joined in some kind of evil conspiracy to make her fail, what with the work they'd been gleefully handing her. Mai had had the nerve to tell her she was over-using her imagination. Keh.  
Though she'd never tell Mai, the girl's tutoring skills left much to be desired. It wasn't that she was bad, not really. Just that she wasn't…

Shizuru. If it had been her, she would have learned more quickly. _Or perhaps_, her mind mocked, _you would have been more distracted._ She quickly discarded that suggestion.

Besides, the older girl was busy with schoolwork as well. They had hardly talked at all since the year began, and those rare moments usually only lasted a few minutes. A hurried phone conversation before classes, a letter or two. She didn't want to admit it, but she probably could have made more of an effort. She'd been given a spare set of keys to her house, she could have visited whenever she'd wanted to. And it's not that she didn't want to, just that she was… _Scared_, her mind piped up again. _Scared of her, scared of what you might think. Scared that, after all that's happened, you won't be welcome anymore._

_I'm ignoring you_, she told herself resolutely. Different train of thought, then. Besides the work and teachers and…stuff, she had to deal with her alarm clock. Now, if it had been a normal alarm clock, she might have thrown it against the wall and been done with it. But, unfortunately for her, it wasn't. When Mai had found the remains of her old clock in the trash bin, she'd gone out and bought her a hideous monstrosity that shamed the name of clocks everywhere. It was more accurate to call it a thing. A large pink thing with 'mauve' polka-dots. At least, that was what the tag had said. When Mai had her mind set on something, she usually got her way. And this time, she was tackling the problem of Natsuki being late for the 8th day in a row. A couple weeks ago, she'd come to her apartment with a bag. Natsuki hadn't taken much notice until her friend had produced the thing and set it down in front of her. She'd stared at is suspiciously, finally asking what it was. She sighed, remembering Mai's answer.

_'It's an alarm clock, of course.' _

'That's great. Why is it here?'

'Because I went out of my way and bought it for you, and you're going to use it.'

'Hell no!'

'Use it, or I won't tutor you anymore.'

She'd stared, horrified at the prospect of losing Mai's help. As annoying as it was, she wouldn't be able to get by in lessons without her. Having no choice, she'd grudgingly accepted it. The next morning, when it had released an ear-splitting screech in her ear, she'd had to resist the temptation to throw it out her window. She thought she was doing reasonably well, three weeks having passed without much incident. The only time she'd actually been mad enough to hurl it at the wall, its rubbery sides had saved it from a cruel fate. A well-deserved one, but there was nothing she could do about that.

So, all in all, one might understand why she thought nothing else the year could throw at her could be as bad as this. Alas, poor Natsuki. Trouble has ever been your friend.

Today was a better day than most though. It was a day off for all those students who weren't participating in the school play. She didn't really relish the idea of making a fool of herself on stage, especially in Romeo and Juliet. That gave her plenty of time to kill. Mulling over different options, she'd settled on sleeping in, eating a quick lunch, then going for a ride. Preferably somewhere open, with as few curves as possible. That required less concentration. She'd done the sleeping part, and was all set for making instant noodles and leaving when her phone rang. Well, whoever it was, she wasn't here. There were other things to do. Like not burn the noodles again. It took an incredible amount of effort to mess up on making those, as Mai had told her, but somehow she managed to one out of every two times. It seemed as though today would be one of her better days.

-click-

'I'm not here. Leave a message.'

Now all she had to do was stand there for a minute or so while it boiled, and then she'd be-

"Natsuki?"

_Shizuru?_

"Natsuki, I know you don't have school today. If you're there, please pick up."

_How did she...? Why is she…?_

"Natsuki…"

It almost sounded as though she was choking, but what could… Her thoughts were cut into by a hacking cough that didn't sound as though it could have come from Shizuru. There was nothing delicate or ladylike about it. Without a second thought, she rushed to the phone.

"Shizuru?"

"Ah, so Natsuki was there after all."

"That… I was…busy."

It was a bad excuse, and she knew it. But she never answered the phone unless she felt the conversation held with whoever was calling would be worthwhile. She'd had more than her fair share of hassling experiences with salesmen.

"I see."

The voice on the other end had a hint of laughter in it. She could feel her face heat up. Brushing it aside, she decided it must be from the stove. Okay, so the stove was on the other side of the room. Same difference, really.

"What do you- er, why did you call?"

She tried, and succeeded, to keep the eagerness out of her voice. For the most part. But if Shizuru noticed, she kept it to herself.

"My parents are away on business, and I'm afraid I'm confined to my bed. I seem to have come down with something…"

'Something' was an understatement, if the cough had been any example.

"You have a cold like _that_ and you're home alone? What about that girl who stal- follows you around?"

In the more recent of Shizuru's letters, she'd talked of a younger girl who, from Natsuki's point of view, worshipped the ground she walked on. Shizuru insisted she was just interested in her welfare, but honestly. The last time she'd been sick, the girl had followed her around all day with a box of tissues. Not normal.

"How kind of Natsuki to worry about me. Though I'm sure Ms. Marguerite would be glad to help, I can't ask her to miss her classes for my sake."

_Is that the only reason?_

"Oh."

She hadn't meant for it to come out so lonely sounding, but it had. Damn her mouth. Or brain. Whichever one was responsible.

"Of course, I'd prefer Natsuki's company to anyone else's."

_She would say that. But…_

"Wait, my company?"

"Yes, that's why I called. Would you mind taking care of me today? I can't really leave the bed, so for food…"

"You want me to come over there to _cook_?"

Really… Couldn't she get someone else to do it? It was such a nice day today, and…and… Oh great, she was sniffling.

"Does Natsuki not care if I'm left helpless, lying in my bed all day with no one for company…?"

_Well, yes, but that wasn't…_

Shizuru coughed again. It sounded worse than last time. Damn.

"Fine, I'll come! Just…don't get any worse, alright?"

Natsuki was positive she could _hear_ the older girl smiling.

"I shall wait with baited breath."

-click-

Hn. Well, it wouldn't be so bad. How hard could cooking be? And speaking of cooking… Her nose twitched. Was something burning? …Oh hell. Alright, so this had been one of her off days. Hurrying over to the stove, she was greeted by the flaming pack of noodles. Being placed too close to the stove for a prolonged amount of time must have…gah. Just gah. Dousing them with water, she prodded the blackened mass within with one end of a chopstick. Nothing edible there. Maybe Shizuru would have something. Dumping the water that had been boiling down the sink, she grabbed the extra keys from the countertop and rushed out the door.

* * *

Alright, so, yeah. I wanted to write something less dark than my other story may well be, and Kugia provided me with a nice little plot. It won't be long, and updates will probably be few and far between. Bleh. I already owe two drabbles, and chapter 6 needs to be written. Please review. I do so love reviews.


	2. Enter Tomoe

A/N- Oh gah, I'm sorry. I had no idea my updating schedule would be so…dead. And see, now ya'll have made me add Tomoe. This is…going to be different. For the author, at least. Yay for complete altering of outlines. Anyway, do please bare with me. Wombat, please don't eat my children. Not that I'm too likely to ever have any, all things considered. -grins- Oh, and just to give a shout-out of sorts, there's a story called Genesis Odyssey, by nytecat. Go read it. Before this, even. It's good. Plus, it's in a medieval setting, of sorts. What could be better?

* * *

Parking her motorcycle outside of Shizuru's house, Natsuki cursed traffic, people with cars, and roads in general. Really, it hadn't been her fault that she'd been so preoccupied with thinking about Shizuru's cough and how bad it had sounded that she'd forgotten that red lights meant 'stop'. Okay, so maybe it had. But there'd been no need to honk quite so loudly. 

Ears still ringing, she walked up to the door and jammed her set of keys into the lock. After a few moments, the door swung open, allowing her to enter. Slipping her shoes off and placing them next to the door, she took a few steps and made her presence known by shouting "Oi, Shizuru! I'm here."

An answer floated back from upstairs, from what Natsuki assumed to be Shizuru's room. "I'm so glad you came. Could you come up?"

Hardly noticing the paintings on the wall and the elaborate designs next to them as she'd seen them so many times before, she moved to the stairs. Taking them two at a time, Natsuki reached the top in a matter of seconds and threw open the door. Taking in the image of Shizuru lying in her bed, she moved to the side of the sheet-covered girl and fumbled for something to say. Sitting up, Shizuru saved her from further embarrassment by smiling and giving her something to do.

"I'm feeling terribly hungry. If Natsuki doesn't mind, could she go to the kitchen and make something?"

Kitchen, food, right. Food that would involve cooking. As long as it was relatively simple, she should be fine.

"Sure, what would you like?"

"Anything Natsuki wants to make is fine."

With that vague request, Shizuru sunk back into her sheets. Taking that as her cue to start, Natsuki left the room and headed to the kitchen. When she got there, she opened cupboards and drawers, looking for something simple enough to make without burning the house down. Remembering Mai, she settled on ramen. That wasn't particularly greasy or caloric, so her bed-ridden friend ought to like it. So, first she had to boil water…

Brow creasing as she remembered her earlier luck with water, she wondered if Shizuru would mind some kind of sandwich. But no sandwich was complete without mayonnaise, and she doubted this house had any.

Ramen it was, then. Besides, it hadn't been her fault it had caught on fire earlier. That had been Shizuru's, for calling her. So maybe she'd be lucky again, and nothing would happen that she'd have to pay for later.

Deciding that, considering the circumstances, ramen might actually be safer then a lot of the other things she could make, she searched for a decent-sized pot. Ah, there was a nice one. Hoisting it up, she set it on the counter. She had just started filling it with water when she heard another hacking cough from upstairs.

Jumping, her arm brushed the pot and knocked it off the counter and onto her foot. Letting out a yelp, she bent down and grabbed it off the floor, setting it back down. She took a step forward to get some paper towels to wipe up the water, slipped, and fell on the hard tiles of the kitchen. Growling, she grabbed a wad of towels from underneath the sink and threw them on the floor. There, problem solved. She hadn't gotten that wet, so maybe she was in luck today.

"Natsuki? Is everything alright down there?"

Oh, of course, she would have to hear that.

"Fine, just fine!"

"But it sounded as though something fell, and-"

"I'm _fine_!"

She hadn't meant for it to come out sounding so harsh, but at least the questions had stopped. She'd just made her an extra-good bowl of ramen to make up for it. Pouring in the rest of the water without incident, she set it on the stove to boil.

Good, that was one part done. Now, how did one go about making ramen…? Mai usually had eggs, nori, pork, and…and… Gah. She really should have paid more attention to the few lessons the other girl had tried to give her. Well, she should probably start by seeing what Shizuru had, and go from there.

Having decided on a course of action, she went about opening the refrigerator and cupboards and seeing what it they that she could use. Eggs, check. Nori, check. It didn't look very appetizing, but she knew from experience that it could taste good. Onions, check. Salt, check. Chicken broth, check. Okay, good. That meant she could make a salt broth, and then add everything else.

Reaching for a knife and another, smaller pot, she set them on the counter beside her pile of ingredients. Let's see… It might help if she said it out loud.

"First we put the egg in the water and let it boil, then…um…"

Hurrah, water and boiling. And because we were having such _wonderful_ luck with that earlier, let's add an egg to the mix. On top of that, she had no idea how to actually make the ramen. She'd seen Mai do it, but seeing and doing were two very different things. Just how different, Natsuki was about to find out.

Leaning down, she grabbed a kettle, filled it with water from the tap, and set in on a separate burner. Now all she had to do was wait until they both boiled, and then, um…

Frowning, she realised she had no idea what to do after that. Making tea was all very well and good, but the food… If only she'd let Mai teach her the basics.

Whistling a tuneless something she'd made up on the spot, she leaned against the counter and waited as patiently as possible for the water to boil. When it began to show signs of bubbling, she reached out a hand to pick it up when the doorbell rang.

Of all the- who would be calling at Shizuru right now? Stomping over to the door with a noise that would have rivaled a horde of oxen at their very best, she flung it open and stared down at an all too familiar face. At first, she was too startled to react, much less slam the door in the face of the giant box of chocolate wrapped in a pink ribbon, of all things. And…was that a purple 'get-well' card? She probably would have been staring for much longer if the younger girl hadn't leapt backwards as if shocked and yelled, "You aren't Shizuru-onee-sama!"

Natsuki blinked. "No, I'm really not." Then, after thinking some more, she burst out, "Wait, what the hell are _you _doing here!?"

Holding the box of chocolate close to her body as if Natsuki would snatch it away at any moment, lavender eyes narrowed as the card-bearer attempted to force her way through the door. Losing her balance, Natsuki's hands flailed before gripping the edge of the ribbon, of all things.

She took a moment to register the fact that Shizuru's

_stalker_

concerned classmate was falling on top of her before they crashed to the floor, the scarily gaudy ribbon still clutched between Natsuki's fingers. Leaping off of her, the other girl (Tomoe, was it?) glared spitefully before practically shrieking, as though she weren't right in front of her, "What are you doing in Shizuru-onee-sama's house?"

Returning the glare in full force, she replied, annoyed that _she_ was the one defending herself, "She invited me here, that's why. Why are you skipping out on class? You don't have tryouts today…"

"A likely story! You came here because you wanted to take advantage of her while she was sick, didn't you?"

Well aware that she'd probably just invented a whole new shade of red, Natsuki did her best to splutter out a reply through her clenched teeth. "No! No, I just… How the hell would you draw that conclusion, I…" Deciding that explanations weren't her forte, she fell back of accusations. "Anyway, you're the one who showed up with a huge box of chocolate and…and a ribbon. If she's sick, what makes you think she'll want to eat something like that?"

Knowing Tomoe, Natsuki wouldn't have been surprised if the next words out of her mouth had been 'they were crafted with love'. Luckily for both her sanity and for Tomoe's reputation, their verbal exchange was interrupted by a voice from upstairs.

"Ara, Natsuki, do we have company?"

The spiteful look on Tomoe's face evaporated in a matter of seconds, being replaced by a bright and happy visage complete with sparkling eyes. Oh joy.

Her eyes widened as Tomoe began to race up the stairs towards Shizuru's room.

"I'm coming, Shizuru-onee-sama!"

Could this get any worse? Her question was answered for her by a burning smell she was becoming far too acquainted with coming from the kitchen. She should have known her luck, small as it was, couldn't last for too long.


End file.
